CCC Gainesville | Blog
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
The LORD God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
To the woman he said,
“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you.”
And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”
The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
(Genesis 3:1-20 ESV)
Sunday Advent begins and we will celebrate Holy Communion together. I was inspired by these words:
“When we celebrate God’s grace to us here, we are learning how to celebrate His goodness in every aspect of our lives, and that includes our orientation to festivals like Christmas. In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Father Christmas appears in the book to give gifts and to destroy winter. He distributes his gifts and moves on. We should learn to be much more like him. And who comes next, and what does she say? Correct, the White Witch comes next, and she says, “What is the meaning of all this gluttony, this waste, this self-indulgence?” In the White Witch’s words we hear all the echoes of the pious fussers.
But what do we learn in this meal, set before us? We learn of God’s extravagance. We learn of His prodigality. We learn of His overflow. We learn that He doesn’t know how to stay with respectable limits. Do you call saving us staying within respectable limits? Not a bit of it.”
-Doug Wilson
Almighty God, Father of all mercies,
we thine unworthy servants
do give thee most humble and hearty thanks
for all thy goodness and loving-kindness
to us and to all men.
We bless thee for our creation, preservation,
and all the blessings of this life;
but above all for thine inestimable love
in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ,
for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory.
And, we beseech thee,
give us that due sense of all thy mercies,
that our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful;
and that we show forth thy praise,
not only with our lips, but in our lives,
by giving up our selves to thy service,
and by walking before thee
in holiness and righteousness all our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost,
be all honor and glory, world without end. Amen.
Great wisdom here from Kathleen Nielson:
1. Pray in advance
2. Pray for God to set a guard over my mouth (Psalm 141:3).
3. Care for different stages of life.
4. Infuse my plans with trust in a sovereign God.
5. Make time to read the Bible out loud and pray out loud together.
Thanks to everyone for another great year for Operation Christmas Child!
This year we gathered a total of 174 boxes to be delivered to children all over the world. While we didn’t quite reach our goal, I am still encouraged because our church family gave 20 more boxes than last year. I am excited to see this great ministry growing within our church and I can’t wait to see what happens next year!
Boxes are all loaded up!
Dinah and Esther are ready to drop off some boxes!
Here is the breakdown…
2011
Children’s Ministry – 70
Church Family – 103
2012
Children’s Ministry – 51
Church Family – 123
Stay tuned to the blog for more information on where our boxes ended up. And pray for the child who will receive your box!
And, again, thank you so much! Great job, CCC!
